


The Rule Book to Dating Your Co-Worker - and All The Reasons Why You Shouldn't

by ErosRose



Category: Riverdale - Fandom
Genre: Comfort, Endgame Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Minor Angst, Minor Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Minor Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz, Office Workers AU, Romance, and not really rivals either, but not really enemies, rivals au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24361906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErosRose/pseuds/ErosRose
Summary: The Blue and Gold Publication House has been a steadily climbing business for a number of years now, a new client on the horizon could see them go from budding business to sitting up there as one of the greats. Jughead see's this as his chance to finally start climbing the ladder and prove to Director Weatherbee that he has earnt his position as the Editor in Chief. Betty is determined to prove that as the new girl in the office she means business, her ambition is real and she has five year plan to achieve. But when the two are forced to work together maybe they'll see that their first impressions of each other were not all they may have seemed and maybe they might even make a good team.orThe Rule Book to Dating Your Co-Worker - and All The Reasons Why You Shouldn't.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 15
Kudos: 43





	1. The One With All The Donuts

_ He got that boyish look that I like in a man _

_ I am an architect, I'm drawing up the plans _

It was a Monday morning, the office was abuzz with the soft murmur of weekend catch-ups. Ethel and Midge stood by the coffee machine, the hangover from the weekend still apparent on their faces as they filled up their mugs with the fresh brew. Reggie and Moose strolled out casually from the elevator with a string of other workers behind them, the mixture of faces held various levels of determination to tackle the day ahead. 

Leaning against a somber Jughead Jones’ desk stood his good friend Archie Andrews.

‘All I’m saying is - Ethel is a nice girl.’ Archie smiled knowingly.

‘Yeah Arch, and like I’ve told you, what, like a million times - I don’t date co-workers.’ 

‘You and your rules - you won’t pick up girls in clubs, you refuse to even try online dating. How do you expect to ever find a chick?’ 

‘Archie, I know you find a lot of fun in playing the field but that just isn’t me. I want to focus on my job and unlike you I actually want to get promoted soon. “Chicks”, as you call them, are not high on my list of priorities right now.’ Jughead rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. 

‘What about the blondie you’re always watching?’ Archie smirked. 

‘Archie I swear to God, man.’ A blush crept up Jughead’s pale neck at the thought of the young woman who sat three desks down. 

Betty Cooper, the ‘ _ blondie _ ’ in question, had worked at the Blue and Gold publication house for around two months now. She was ambitious, smart and, as Jughead had quickly realised,  _ very _ competitive. Jughead had taken nearly a full week of sleepless nights to meet a deadline on a publishing job, only to find out the morning of the hand-in date that  _ Miss Cooper _ had already beaten him to the punch two days prior. 

‘C’mon, you’re saying you wouldn’t make an exception to your rule for her?’ 

‘I wouldn’t need to because we both know Betty can’t stand me.’ 

Jughead’s eyes advertently looked over to her desk, she wasn’t in yet which meant she was running late. Jughead smirked. 

_ Ha _ , he thought to himself.  _ Little Miss Perfect, isn’t so perfect after all. _

‘I don’t know man, I think she enjoys that she can get a rise out of you. But all of this ‘rivals’ stuff is gonna get old eventually.’

‘Rivals’ Jughead scoffed, as if the notion was absurd. 

The elevator door pinged with its latest arrival, both Jughead and Archie looked up eagerly. Betty Cooper and a petite brunette hastily exited the elevator, their arms full with an abundance of pink boxes. Bright smiles lit up their faces as they glided around the office effortlessly, Jughead groaned inwardly knowingly exactly what delectable sweetness was stored in those boxes. 

‘We brought donuts!’ Sang the brunette as she made her way over to the men. 

‘La Bonne Nuit patisserie specials, only the best for my Archiekins.’ She planted a kiss on the edge of his mouth as she set the box down on the table.

‘Veronica.’ Archie smiled, opening the donut box eagerly and picking out a heavily glazed pastry and shoving it into his mouth. ‘You are the best, this is seriously just what I needed right now.’

‘Well of course, everybody needs a little Monday morning pick-me-up!’ She beamed, wiping leftover glaze from the corners of his mouth. 

Betty bounced around from desk to desk, dropping off the bubblegum pink boxes at each stop. Jughead sighed in frustration, of course she wasn’t late, she was picking up donuts for the whole  _ goddamn _ office. 

‘Jones.’ Her voice was as sweet as the donuts that she held in her hand. ‘Donuts?’

Jughead looked up, her eyes challenged him, she knew his weakness and just how to catch him off guard. 

‘Thanks.’ He smiled reluctantly and accepted his defeat quickly, he knew just how good those La Bonne Nuit donuts were and just how  _ expensive _ they were in the wild. 

She placed the box down delicately and turned back making her way to her desk, Veronica remained perched on the back corner of Jughead’s desk now that Archie had taken his seat at his own. Jughead coughed in annoyance, any minute now Director Weatherbee was going to walk out of the elevator and another day would officially begin. 

Veronica rolled her eyes at Jughead before hopping from the desk with a promise to Archie that they would finish their conversation at lunch. Archie looked at Jughead sheepishly before they both logged onto their desktops until lunchtime came around. 

Jughead peered into the pink box to his right, through the clear screen he caught a glimpse of a chocolate cheesecake donut.

‘Goddammit.’ He muttered. ‘My favourite.’

* * *

‘And a chocolate cheesecake, please!’ Betty asked politely.

She turned to Veronica, who eyed her knowingly with a smirk.

‘Well, we both know who that one’s for.’ She teased. 

‘V-’ Betty warned, ‘don’t even start that with me this morning. I will not hear anymore about this.’ 

‘Betty, Betty, Betty.’ Veronica sighed. ‘The sexual tension in that office is almost unbearable! I don’t think I can stand another minute of the eye-sex between the pair of you!’

‘Veronica!’ Betty scolded her cheeks warm with embarrassment, she looked up at the clerk behind the counter in shame. ‘I’m so sorry about her.’ 

The clerk looked back, unperplexed by the conversation and handed over a stack of boxes. Betty and Veronica picked up a stack each and made their way back to Veronica’s town car in silence. 

‘We do _ not _ have eye-sex.’ Betty muttered once they were sat in the privacy of the car, a hot blush still bright on her cheeks. 

Veronica laughed quietly.

‘Sure, Betty.’ 

‘We  _ don’t _ .’ Said Betty more firmly than before. ‘I mean he’s impossible for a start, he thinks he’s way too good for anyone. I don’t like that.’

‘I think you like the challenge. You like being able to get under his skin the way that no one else can.’ 

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about, V.’

‘Whilst that may be true for  _ some _ things, B, the language of  _ love _ is one that I know  _ all _ about.’ Veronica smiled as she whipped her phone from her bag and began to rapidly tap at the screen.

Betty sighed, this conversation was not going to be resolved before they got to work and she did not want to bring the topic in with her. She resolved to let Veronica indulge herself in her socials, hoping she’d forget all about it by the time they reached the office. 

_ Love,  _ Betty thought sourly. Veronica could not be more wrong. 

She looked down at the boxes of donuts that sat in her lap, the chocolate cheesecake stared right back at her. 

‘Goddammit.’ She whispered. 

* * *

[A/N: Thanks for reading the first chapter, this hasn't been beta read so apologies if their are any grammatical errors I have gone back to check but some may have passed through my filter. I will go back periodically to edit if there are any! Anyway please let me know what you think, leave comments, kudos, whatever you like! Hopefully the next chapter will be with you quickly, I'm still currently working through quarantine but on a break this week so I have some time to indulge myself in writing! Hope to finish this relatively quickly but haven't got much of an idea of how long this story will actually be although the plot is pretty fleshed out in my notes.]


	2. The One With Franklin P. Paxton

_ When we first dropped our bags on _

_ Apartment floors _

_ Took our broken hearts _

_ Put them in a drawer _

At 10:05AM Director Waldo Weatherbee stepped out of the elevator and marched between the desks on either side of the large office space until he reached the front. 

‘Good morning team, I have some exciting news to report.’ He hollered. ‘Franklin P. Paxton of Baxter Brothers fame and fortune has chosen our publishing house to publish their first novel in a series of  _ adult _ mystery thrillers.’ 

Excited gasps and whispers spread across the office space. Betty and Jughead looked up at each other, determination had seemingly struck them both. 

‘Now, now, settle down team.’ Weatherbee ordered. ‘I know this is very exciting stuff and this could mean big things for this company. A whole series like this could see us transformed into one of the great publishing houses.’

Weatherbee stood for a moment, his quiet presence demanded silence. The room fell quiet, all eyes watched the tall stoic man standing in front of them, his expression unreadable.

‘I’ll be seeing you all individually this afternoon to assign you your tasks on the project. Now, I am afraid not all of you will be able to partake in assisting with the first novel, however stay rest-assured that when this series takes off you’ll all have your fair share of Paxton novels to take part in.’ With this Weatherbee joined his hands together. ‘I expect us all to remain professional during this time, so until I call on you please carry on with your previously assigned tasks.’

With his parting words Weatherbee retreated into his office and the room was once again abuzz with loud whispers and chatter. 

‘Paxton?!’ Jughead exclaimed. ‘Can you believe that Arch, I used to love those books as a kid. I didn’t even realise he was still alive.’

‘I know right, like how old was he when he started the Baxter Brothers, eighty?’ Archie laughed in disbelief. 

‘Maybe it’s a ghost writer or a pseudonym, like a legacy and the name Franklin. P Paxton just gets passed on through generations.’ Jughead mused. 

‘I hope Ronnie gets to be the one to design the cover.’ 

‘What? Arch - I thought you’d want to design the cover? Don’t you want to be a part of what is potentially  _ history  _ in the making?’ Jughead asked perplexed. 

‘Nah, Ronnie will have some sick ideas. Way better than whatever I could come up with.’ Archie resolved. ‘You know me man, sports and music bio’s are my area of expertise. But dude  _ this _ has you written all over it. You have to get chief editor!’

‘I love your enthusiasm, Archie I really do, but you know that the competition is tough, especially on a book like this.’

Jughead’s eyes narrowed on Betty’s back, from his view he could see her furiously typing into her web browser until her screen flooded with images of old Baxter Brothers novels. Had Betty read the stories before? Did she know Paxton’s style, his  _ niche _ ? Judging by her curious clicking and the frustrated slump of her shoulders he was inclined to believe she had no idea. 

Maybe just this one time, for what could have been the first time since she arrived here, Jughead had the advantage. 

* * *

Hours passed by and one by one members of the team were called into the office. First up were Ethel and Midge, between them both they had years of experience in the legal and contractual department, together they were granted the lead roles in managing the contract and all the legal jargon that came with the job. 

Reggie was called in shortly after, an expert in marketing. The guy was good at his job, despite his excessive partying every weekend and questionable life choices. Weatherbee had seemingly made sure however that he was kept in line by the HBIC, Cheryl Blossom. 

Cheryl was one of the oldest in the office, which wasn’t saying much at only 27 years old. However, her age and the very small couple of years experience that she had over some of the others made her believe that she was the Queen Bee of the office and everyone else her workers. Cheryl was the marketing master, if anybody thought that Reggie was good at what he did then they hadn’t met Cheryl Blossom. Which of course was the reason that it came as no surprise to the rest of the team when she was handed Head of Marketing Director for the project. 

Shortly after it appeared that Archie’s wish had come true when Veronica, Valerie and Toni leaped from Weatherbee’s office sharing high fives and gleeful giddy laughs between themselves. Immediately they locked themselves into the conference room and began to moodboard various macabre ideas for the ideal book cover, despite being unaware of the plot or the general motifs that the novel had to offer . 

Which left both Betty and Jughead to discover their fate. For the past hour Jughead had stared blankly at his screen, a word document up with his most recent project staring back at him, the flashing cursor taunted his lack of words. 

Anxiety could make writers block a real bitch. 

Betty’s once tight ponytail was falling loose at the front, evidence of where she had constantly run her hands across it in frustration. Jughead had watched on as she scoured Amazon and ordered whatever Baxter Brother novels she could find in both new and used condition; he debated allowing her to borrow his old copies, however wasn’t sure that they had actually made the trip from his hometown all the way to New York. 

‘Cooper,’ Weatherbee called, ‘and you as well Jones.’

Betty’s head shot back to his desk, shock and concern etched on both of their faces. 

* * *

‘So…’ Betty drawled as they left the office.

‘Looks like we’re co-editors, congratulations.’ Jughead was stiff, unsure of how he felt with the situation. 

‘Same to you too.’ She said with a smile on her face. ‘I’m going to start on some of the material.’

With her parting words she walked briskly over to her desk, as did Jughead to an eagerly awaiting Archie. 

‘So?’ He asked impatiently. ‘How did it go, chief?’

‘No not chief.’ Jughead sighed. ‘Co-Editor, actually. Betty and I are working on the project together.’

At this Archie raised his eyebrows and smiled mischievously, Jughead ignored this. 

‘Weatherbee said that he compared our previous works when making the decision, that it was tough and he only wanted to appoint one of us but when it came to the cut he just couldn’t decide.’ Jughead’s voice was laced with hints of annoyance. ‘He said that whoever impresses him the most during these next couple of months can be Editor in Chief for the rest of the series.’ 

‘Dude.’ Archie said sympathetically. 

‘Yeah.’ Jughead agreed solemnly. He looked over at Betty who had begun furiously typing at her computer, about what he wasn’t sure, they hadn’t even received the first copy of the novel yet. 

_ Whatever _ , he thought as he cracked his knuckles,  _ no time like the present. _

* * *

The hours of the day sped by and it had gotten to 5PM before Betty had even realised just how quickly the day had gone.  _ Had she even eaten lunch _ ? She couldn’t remember. It was only with the tap of a set of long burgundy nails against her desk that her mind was brought back into the realm of the living. 

‘Earth to Betty!’ Veronica sang, her hand now waving furiously in front of Betty’s face. 

Betty blinked rapidly and shook her head, the blue light of the screen had started to create the onset of a migraine in her temples. She took a hand to her eyes and rubbed at them before looking up at Veronica. 

‘I was just saying to the boys over there,’ she pointed with her chin towards the redhead and the black haired man, ‘I’m throwing a get together at Hannigans on Friday night for moi’s little old birthday! You have to come and I won’t take any excuses, okay?’

Betty stuttered, but before she even had a chance to speak Veronica spoke again.

‘It’s not everyday I turn twenty-five, Betty! This is a milestone you know, I think being twenty-five is really going to change the game for me. I have my own apartment, I have a job, I have a wonderful, gorgeous hunk of man.’ Veronica sighed as she looked back in the direction of the redhead who was sat laughing at something on his screen.

‘I don’t get a choice in this do I?’ Betty asked, her voice was teasing but she would never miss Veronica’s birthday. 

‘Absolutely not.’ Said Veronica smiling sweetly. ‘You can come round to my apartment before we go and we can get ready together.’ 

‘Okay, well text me and let me know what time and whether I should be casual, dressy casual, smart casual-’ 

‘Oh magnifique!’ Veronica squealed happily. ‘And I am saying that dress code is-’

Veronica paused for a moment, choosing her next words wisely. 

‘Smoking hot.’ She smiled. ‘That means no ponytails, no jumpers and no flat shoes!’ 

Betty groaned, it was going to be one of  _ those _ nights. Sometimes she really hated how she just couldn’t say no. 

* * *

The gloomy Monday morning that Betty had set out to 12 hours prior had now transformed into a warm summer evening. The sun reflected off the tall buildings surrounding her and the glass casted prisms of colour across brick walls. Jumping off the subway all Betty could think about was how she couldn’t wait to get back to her apartment complex, run herself a scalding hot bath with lavender soaks and hopefully shake the pounding in her head that was building up in pressure. 

The situation wasn’t ideal, co-editing with Jughead could prove to be a nightmare. She knew just how particular he was, how condensing he could be when he thought he was right and she was wrong and just how _ damn competitive _ the guy was. Being the Chief Editor would be her dream, it  _ was _ her dream. To be so young and to already have accomplished one of the major steps in her five year plan, she’d be so far ahead of where she originally imagined when she moved to New York just a few months ago. 

However, from what she knew about him, Jughead had worked at the Blue and Gold for almost two years now, gaining a position straight out of his internship. 

_ Surely, _ she thought,  _ that must count for something _ . 

But Betty was nothing if not an ambitious over-achiever, so despite her ever-growing migraine and despite knowing nothing of the Baxter Brothers, she would continue with the project when she got in. The lavender soaked bath could be traded with a quick brisk shower and she was sure she had some aspirin hanging around in her medicine cabinet somewhere. 

Betty would prove to Weatherbee just how much she deserved to be the Chief Editor, she’d work ten times harder than she ever had before. Determination encapsulated her as she walked the last few blocks to her apartment, her feet hitting the pavement with purpose.

* * *

Jughead threw his keys onto the kitchen counter, paint had chipped away at the edges and the cabinet drawers below hung loosely from their hinges. His upstairs neighbours banged and shuffled above him, as they did every night, the sound now just one of the many ambient New York noises Jughead had become accustomed to over the years. It was as familiar as the garbage truck driving by each Tuesday morning at 5AM, or the drunken students that came pouring out the dive bar a couple of doors down every night. The sounds comforted him in a way he was sure a normal person would find strange.

New York was different from his hometown, a small rural town where everybody knew everybody and knew all of their business. Jughead’s business was something he didn’t want anybody to know and in New York nobody did. He was grateful for his own small slice of the city, a place to call his own that nobody could take away from him. 

He made his way through his apartment, not a large feat considering the square footage of the place. A stack of cardboard boxes stood piled in the corner of his makeshift bedroom, he hadn’t looked at them since making the leap to the city, memories he’d rather not bring to the surface. However, if they were going to be anywhere he was sure they would be in one of these boxes. 

Carefully he unstacked them and began placing them around him in a circle, secretly hoping he would spot them at the top of one of the boxes and not really caring to look at the rest of the contents that they held. Logically he started with the heaviest of the boxes, opening it up to reveal an old worn beanie, pins hanging from the threadbare edges. Lifting up the beanie proved to him that logic was the way forward, his most prized possessions sat staring back up at him. 

_ A Baxter Brothers Mystery: Ten Little Boy Scouts by Franklin P. Paxton _

Jughead picked up the book, it was thinner than he remembered; when he was younger it had seemed like such a skill to be able to read a book of this size in under a week. Nowadays a book like this would take a couple of hours at most. He smiled as he dusted off the cover and opened it to the first page.

_ To Forsythe, _

_ Happy Birthday My Darling, _

_ Lots of Love, _

_ Mom _

His soft smile quickly fell and his throat suddenly felt as if it was coated in razor blades, he shut the book fiercely and threw it back into the box. A trip down memory lane would do nothing to help him complete this project, in an almost afterthought he wondered if perhaps Betty would share the copies she had ordered earlier that day.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [A/N: Thank you for your supportive comments on the first chapter of this series! I must admit this is the first series I've written in a number of years and the first time I've written in a while, I forget sometimes how much I enjoy doing this! This chapter serves as a set-up for the rest of the series, puts people in their places and set certain scenes for future chapters - rest assured chapters to follow will see some more interactions between our two loveable idiots! I'm already writing Chapter 3 and have Chapters 4 and 5 structually planned out, potential update of two chapters tomorrow and I aiming for around 8 chapters and probably an epiologue.]
> 
> [A/N 2: Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated!]


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